Goodbye Brace-Face

Many people have had braces of some kind, usually during their teenage years. According to the NHS, a third of children need orthodontic work.  However, it often isn’t work that takes over six years…

When I was twelve, I was diagnosed with an overbite and severe hypodontia. Hypodontia is where you have missing adult teeth, in my case, eight missing teeth. So once my baby teeth fell out, there were no adult teeth in my gums to replace them. I have no lateral incisors, so I’ve had braces to move my canines to make room for false lateral incisors. They're not implanted, but stuck to the teeth either side of the false teeth. An overbite is more common. It’s where your upper and lower teeth aren’t aligned - the upper ones sit over the lower. 
Confusing, I know. 

Since this diagnosis, I’ve had block retainers, double block retainers, plain retainers, retainers that I’ve had to tighten weekly with a screw, fixed braces, fixed braces with elastic bands and, my final ones, retainers with false teeth. 
I've also have two consultants, three orthodontists, and have been to four dental hospitals.
When I was thirteen, I took my block braces out (pictured on the right) at a restaurant to eat and put them in a napkin. I left that napkin at the restaurant and the staff put it in the bin. I never really got on with the block braces, as they're like always having boiled sweets in your mouth. 

I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve felt self-conscious of having braces, or the way my canines stuck out, the way my jaw was different. In the last six years or so, I’ve been likened to a vampire, I’ve been mocked for my lisp that I had, I’ve been called ‘brace face’, and just a few months ago a couple of drunk strangers said “[she’s] got more metal in her mouth than at a scrapyard” as I walked by. I remember at one point I wouldn’t smile in photos because I didn't like my jaw. Instead, I poked my tongue out so that I didn't feel so self-conscious.

At nineteen years old, I am finally finished with braces. As a memoir, I’ve now got TMJD - temporomandibular joint disorder… basically, my jaw locks a lot. I have to repeatedly unlock it in the mornings when I first wake up, then a couple of times during the day, usually when I‘m talking or eating. If I’m ever talking to you and I press my jaw, I’m just unlocking it… as you do…

Finally, I’m saying goodbye to the countless appointments, the moulds that they say taste like strawberry but actually taste like old gum. I’m saying goodbye to the X-rays, feeling self-conscious in photos and when speaking in public, the mouth ache, and the title, ‘brace face’.